黑料门

A wider skill set

For the past three years, Henry has shared coaching duties with a former student competitor he coached, Mili Echeverria Meyer (JD 鈥�18), senior corporate counsel for NinjaHoldings.

鈥淚 adore coaching with Bernie,鈥� Meyer says. 鈥淗e鈥檚 taught me so much and become a great friend. I think we were both pleasantly surprised at how in step we were at coaching, right from the start.鈥�

鈥淢ili competed twice in HNBA and had excellent scores,鈥� says Henry, 鈥渂ut what makes her different is she understands the end goal is not competition. It鈥檚 learning and applying lessons for life: not just the ins and outs of antidiscrimination law, for example, but also answering questions, seeing both sides, and being dispassionate in your analysis and passionate in your argument.鈥�

The annual HNBA conference that hosts the moot court competition is ground zero for lawyers-to-be to learn other irreplaceable lessons, say Henry and Meyer.

Every day, the conference includes events at which students are welcome, from an opening reception to a black-tie gala. 鈥淗undreds of lawyers are there who want to recruit, and students get hired out of this conference,鈥� says Henry. 鈥淢ili and I teach students to advocate for themselves at the conference鈥擲chmoozing 101鈥攁nd to make those connections.鈥�

鈥淎t this conference, students meet judges and corporate counsel from across the country.鈥�

As a student competitor, 鈥淚 expected the substantive elements of the competition, like improving my writing and oral advocacy skills, but I wasn鈥檛 expecting to learn networking or creating mentoring relationships,鈥� says Meyer. 鈥淎t this conference, students meet judges and corporate counsel from across the country. I don鈥檛 think I鈥檇 have had the nerve to apply for my current position without the skills I gained in moot court and at the conference.鈥�

Through the conference, 鈥淲e really do form a familia-like relationship,鈥� Henry says. 鈥淎ll my former students are like cousins to each other. We even have an annual barbecue at my house.鈥�

The 黑料门way

After many years of service to the HNBA teams鈥攁 long-term commitment that many 黑料门graduates take on as coaches for the law school鈥檚 moot court, mock trial, and negotiation teams鈥擧enry is soon passing the torch to Meyer so he can spend more time with his young family. Meyer says she鈥檒l follow the 黑料门tradition of recruiting alumni she coached as students to come back and coach alongside her.

鈥淭his team really values keeping it in the family,鈥� says Meyer. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not in any exclusionary way; it鈥檚 just that people who join this team love it and stay as involved as they want to be after they graduate. The mentorship and camaraderie are kind of the 黑料门way.鈥濃��Gail Mansfield (January 2024)